Plz ID: Black, segmented worms, parasite?

[Breeze]

Hey all,

Found 10+ little worms cruising on top of the sand substrate in my 55 gal. They are black, kind of segmented, and just under 1cm long.

This tank has regular 30% water changes, weekly. There haven't been any issues, as far as tank health, since the tank was setup over 6 months ago. The bio load is on the high side. Currently have a emperor 400 and an old filter (50gal+ aquatech reagent) running on either end of the tank, and a maxijet 1200 for circ. Plenty of air as well.

Check the pic and tell me what ya think.

 

[kno4te]

Hard to say. Could be a worm or larvae (drain moth larvae look like this). Would keep siphoning and watch if they cont to return.

 

[Lilyann]

I would second larvae. I dont know of any parasite common to tropical fish in the aquarium that is of that color and size.

 

[Breeze]

Thanks guys. Yeah, I'm really at a loss here. I've been in the game for a while and haven't come across these little guys yet.

kno4te I have an eheim vac, so I'm just sitting here staring at the tank with the vacuum cleaner, suckin em up as I see them.

It's strange though, like with nematodes or similar micro animals there everywhere and quite numerous, these guys are secluded to the 1/4 of my tank that has natural sand, and there's only been like 15 since I've started suckin em up this morning.

I dunno, but I'll be sure to update. I'm going to take pictures of them with my canon later, much better quality, maybe it will help in id'ing these guys


Thanks again all, replies to come.

 

[Lilyann]

The more I look at the picture it looks very similar to midge larvae- do you feed live foods or have you introduced any new plants to your aquarium?

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Look harmless, midge larvae, many fish eat them

 

[Breeze]

It's rather hairy too, I'll go with midge larvae for now. Not an exact fit though, being midge larvae are somewhat see through and these are solid black with more hairs on them. But thanks for everybody's help.


In the past I had fed guppies or comets but that may have been over 2 months ago. Who knows but I'm sticking with midge larvae until otherwise needed.


But Just cuz I took it anyway....pics

Ps those lines in the pics are 5/16" (4mm) for reference

 

[Breeze]

Just was reading a post here: https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/found-black-worms-in-filter-media.93670/

Possibly annelids? The pictures are almost identical to what I'm seeing, also a good post for reference.

Edit: I kept 2 of them in a jar, if anyone needs better/more pics let me know. I really just need some answers!

 

[kno4te]

Hard to say seems a bit off but better pics should help. The concern will always be a leech. But will see how it goes. Best of luck.

 

[kno4te]

Just saw the new pics above. Larvae for sure.